I wrote this live-time in Vilnius, but wanting to focus on our current travels and a shortage of Internet time have me posting later:

We launched our Baltic adventure with a Belgium Airlines flight from Brussels to Vilnius. We cruised through the classic train-station-like Vilnius Airport, picked up our Addcar rental (far and away the best rent car deal I found in the Baltics) and–with only a short walk with luggage in the rain to our car–we were off. Things got a little snarled after that when none of my email servers would let me send or receive the emails I needed to make contact with our AirBnB hostess’ mother. We parked behind the pharmacy she’d used as a landmark in a typical Eastern European graffiti-covered alley/parking area while I messaged our hostess, Ruta, who was vacationing in Paris to let her know I couldn’t reach her mother. Meanwhile, David wandered around asking random strangers until he actually found a co-worker of Ruta’s mom and we finally got things moving. (If only Ruta had said her mother worked in the pharmacy, there’d have been no problem at all!) In minutes, we were settled into our lovely apartment. From that moment on, things flowed smoothly. We love Vilnius!read more

I’d really just planned a peek at Kuala Lumpur en route to Cambodia, but we ended up loving this city and packing in more than I’d dreamed. I can’t start this travelogue without a nod to our spectacular AirBnB apartment. Located in central Kuala Lumpur, near 2 light rail stations and a monorail station, this brand new building is ultramodern, staffed with lots of helpful people, sporting a great view from the floor-to-ceiling windows in the 2-bedroom/2-bath apartment, a spectacular rooftop pool and more. All this for $65, all-in. We loved it!read more

View of Seoul Station and beyond from our well-located, but unauthorized AirBnB apartment

We had our first unpleasant AirBnB experience in Seoul and it had very little to do with the apartment itself. Two days before we were to arrive in Seoul (and just as we were about to begin our much-anticipated, Internet-free stay at Beomeosa Monastery, ie., with no time to make other plans), I received an email from the owner of the apartment we’d booked in Seoul, “Mr. S.” Mr. S wrote to touch base regarding handing off the keys, etc…and to tell me that “if any persons (police man) ask you regarding the you come to here through the airbnb, then pls DON’T SPEAK for airbnb will be appreciated…so you can say that this room is your friend’s room for you.”read more

I spent nearly two weeks in Croatia with my sons years ago and the place I’d always regretted missing was Plitvice National Park. As far as I was concerned, Plitvice was #1 on my list for this Croatian vacation with David and now, as our trip neared an end, we were finally going to be there…and it was storming. Not just light rain, but a downpour. Aaargh!

The weather in Zadar had been overcast with occasional drizzle, but cleared to sunny the morning we set out on the drive to Plitvice. It’s an easy 2-hour drive from Zadar to Plitvice and the scenery is beautiful as you head into the mountains and cross over impressive bridges spanning wide inlets of water.read more

The listing for our AirBnB apartment in Zadar billed the place as “Fifi apartment.” The name conjured images of a French poodle or maybe even a can-can dancer; definitely female, in any event. When I emailed and WhatsApp’ed with contact Andrej, however, he let me know, in passing, that Fifi was male. Oh. Andrej said “Fifi” spoke little English, hence Andrej’s role as spokesman, but that Fifi himself would meet us. The apartment included secure on-site parking, a big plus for an apartment inside the old town. Andrej told me that Fifi would be waiting for us by the city gate and lead us to the parking since. Despite the advance info, we were a still a little surprised the first time we saw “Fifi:” a big man of late middle age in a black leather jacket. As promised, he was waiting for us, on foot. When we offered to drive him with us, he declined and proceeded to walk ahead of our car, leading us into the old city, past the open-air market and to the electronic gate to our apartment.read more

Our apartment wish list in Split presented some challenges: We needed parking, but we wanted to be near the pedestrian old town. As always, I wanted value for our money (plus wi-fi, a washing machine, charm, a quiet place to sleep, a good host…). We really lucked out on all fronts in Split and ended up with one of our favorite AirBnB apartments to date…with a tiny caveat I’ll get to below.

Our host Vlatko was very responsive from the moment we booked. As promised, he was waiting in the street for us with his little boy when we arrived from Dubrovnik to “hold a parking place for us.” This was the first inkling that the billed guaranteed parking might not be so guaranteed; that caveat I mentioned. The parking turns out to be sort of a first-come–first-served affair at the end of the dead-end street on which the apartment sits. David did his usual awesome job of maneuvering our bigger-than-expected rent car into the snug parking. Vlatko explained that there was “usually” parking and, if we happened to come back and there wasn’t any parking, we could just park in the paid lot next door and then look down from the apartment window until a free space opened up and move the car. Hmm. Not how I wanted to spend my time in Split. Despite this potential hitch, we actually didn’t have a problem getting free parking on our return from our one daytrip to Krka, Trogir and Solin.read more

For our relatively short stay in Dubrovnik, location was my prime concern when it came to lodging. I wanted to be in the old city. From past experience, I knew we wanted as few stairs as possible. I wanted to be close to things, but away from the noise of late-night clubs or crowds beneath our windows. This was a short stay, so we didn’t need as many amenities as we sometimes prefer, being able to skip, for example a washing machine. Lastly, I wanted a deal! Dubrovnik has become a relatively expensive city in recent years (see my first Dubrovnik post if you’re interested in hearing me whine about crowds and high prices), but we felt our AirBnB apartment was a bargain at $66.50/night, all fees and taxes included.read more

Our apartment in Belgrade was an amazing $43/night, net of all fees. Wow. I confess to being not only tempted by the price, but really curious to see just what we would get at that rate. The reviews were good; David, who’s become more and more willing to give the fruits of my bargain-hunting a try was game. I felt pretty optimistic about this booking…which isn’t to say I didn’t have a few niggling doubts on the taxi ride from the airport. But, our hostess, Vesna, had provided lots of comforting information, been super-responsive to my emails, correct about free wi-fi at the airport, and quick to respond to my WhatsApp text when we landed in Belgrade. So far, so good.read more

Secured courtyard parking in old town Ljubljana was the perk that sealed this AirBnB apartment for me. But, even without the need to safely park the rent car, I would have been tempted by the rave reviews and lovely photos. From the time I booked, our host Aljosa (pronounced “ah lee OH sah”) was quick to respond to my emails in excellent English. On our arrival, he was waiting to let us into the apartment as promised.

The apartment–in an old building, as I usually prefer when in Europe, was spotlessly clean and stylishly renovated. We particularly admired the ceiling mural and one wall on which he had left the partially-exposed old wallpaper.read more

Venice is an expensive city so we were willing to pay more for the right AirBnB apartment than we might elsewhere. Still, $429 for 3 nights (inclusive of all fees) seemed like a good deal for the lovely 1-bedroom apartment we rented from Maurizio and Francesca. The location was perfect: very near the famous Gritti Palace Hotel and an easy walk to San Marco square, but far enough to be away from the crowds and the noise.

Maurizio was very responsive prior to our arrival and provided detailed information for guests arriving in Venice by any means imaginable. After taking the People Mover from the cruise ship we took a vaporetto (public transportation boat that is essentially a water-bound bus) to the Santa Maria del Giglio stop where we were met, as promised, by Francesca and escorted the short distance to the apartment, down a smoothly paved (easy on the rolling luggage) path.read more